There has been proposed, for example in the document US 2003/0069693, a geographical pointing device that includes a GPS receiver, a digital compass and a database. This device displays the position and the direction of the user on a map that includes points of interest. There is provision for enabling a user to point to an object to obtain an identification and characteristics of that object. However, this solution can be implemented only if the device includes the necessary elements (such as a compass and a database in the document referred to above).